DSO upgrading biosafety facilities to highest level to handle viruses worse than Covid-19 & SARS

Operational by end-2025.

Darryl Laiu | March 01, 2021, 01:26 PM

The Defence Science Organisation (DSO) will be upgrading its facilities so that it can handle biological threats of a potentially higher risk than SARS and Covid-19.

According to Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen, it will be the first biosafety laboratory in Southeast Asia equipped to handle viruses in the highest risk classification.

The biosafety laboratory is planned to be situated in the DSO facility at Marina Hill and is expected to be operational by end-2025.

Equipped to handle threats

Viruses are classified into Risk Groups 1 to 4, according to their transmissibility and lethality.

Viruses in a Higher Risk Group would require facilities equipped with more stringent safety features to study and develop countermeasures.

The current facilities within DSO National Laboratories can safely handle Risk Group 3 viruses like SARS and Covid-19.

But to better prepare Singapore against future biological threats, DSO will be upgrading its facilities to Level 4, the highest possible, to safely handle, assess and develop counters to more "severe forms" of viruses.

"Many developed countries already have labs with the highest biosafety level, we call it BSL-4. And these were built many years ago. Since 2015, countries in Asia like China, Japan and Korea have also built these BSL-4 labs," said Ng.

Enabling testing of pathogens

The upgraded biosafety laboratory will be used to isolate and culture new emerging infectious disease pathogens and known-high-risk pathogens.

This will allow DSO to develop and test diagnostics as well as develop countermeasures against these pathogens.

Third-party and overseas experts with relevant experience will also be engaged to assist in the design of the laboratory.

The consultant will help ensure adherence to international standards and guidelines from the World Health Organisation and the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Laboratory to be safe

The upgraded laboratory will comply with the Ministry of Health’s National Biosafety Standards for Maximum Containment Facilities established in May 2019, adhering to design principles, management and operating policies, good practices and performance testing.

The safety measures include:

  • Double HEPA filtration of air and exhaust purging
  • Double pipe containment and sterilisation of liquids before discharge
  • Heat sterilisation of all solid wastes before incineration
  • Multiple air locks and negative pressure in the laboratory to ensure directional air flow
  • Air corridor around the laboratory as a safety barrier
  • Safe shutdown capabilities to maintain neutral pressure with no air movement out of laboratory in the event of mechanical failure

Top image from MINDEF.